Saturday, March 31, 2007

Spirit Caravan's Scott "Wino" Weinrich's guitar tone evinces the slow burning wisdom derived from many decades of hard living and touring in the underground music community. In the wake of the breakup of his previous outfit, Obsessed, due in part to a soured major-label record deal, Wino found himself living in Southern California, burned out and broke. Realizing that drastic changes were certainly in order -- legend has it -- he picked up his only possession, a Les Paul guitar, and boarded a Greyhound bus back East to his hometown of Washington, D.C., to sort out his life. Whether merely apocryphal or not, the story illustrates Wino's hard-as-nails, driven to the marrow modus operandi regarding the creation of music.

Spirit Caravan began in 1996, playing gigs in the Maryland area initially under the name Shine. Drummer Gary Isom and bass player Dave Sherman rounded out the lineup, both of whom Wino had known for many years. After some coaxing, Wino, who had been deeply embroiled in the thankless task of reassembling both his personal and musical career, became amenable to jamming old Obsessed tunes just for fun. Quite clearly, that blossomed into a full-fledged band. While Spirit Caravan's sound isn't drastically different from the aforementioned Obsessed, who welded the foot-stomping organic qualities of Grand Funk Railroad with no-frills American roots punk like the Dictators, all the while observing Black Sabbath, Spirit Caravan injected a healthy dose of cryptic psychedelia to the mix.

In 1997, the band recorded its first vinyl EP entitled Lost Sun Dance. Shortly after, they were met with a cease and desist order from another outfit using the moniker Shine and re-emerged after some brainstorming as Spirit Caravan. In 1999, the trio issued two recordings, the album Jug Fulla Sun, and the CD-EP Dreamwheel, the former on Fugazi member Joe Lally's Tolotta Records. After extensive U.S. and European touring, the band recorded and released its sophomore effort, Elusive Truth, in 2001. ~ Patrick Kennedy, All Music Guide

The classic Jeopardy (1980) was the band's first release on Korova Records (a subsidiary of Warner Brothers who also had Echo And The Bunnymen).

The 4 bonus tracks are the Live Instinct EP which was only issued in Holland. It was recorded at The Venue in London on January 14 1981. It features an incendiary guitar solo on Heartland (Adrian at his best) and is one of the rarest Sound records!

~~~~~~~

Jeopardy is a caustic jolt of a debut that startles and fascinates. With the plaintive intro of the rhythm section, a spidery guitar, and incidental synth wobbles (which all sounds surprisingly Neu!-like), "I Can't Escape Myself" begins the album unassumingly enough until reaching the terse, one-line chorus that echoes the title of the song; suddenly, from out of the blue, all the instruments make a quick, violent, collective stab and retreat back into the following verse as singer Adrian Borland catches his breath. The reverb placed on his voice is heightened at just the right moments to exacerbate the song's claustrophobic slant. The ecstatic onward rush of "Heartland" forms the back end of a dynamic one-two opening punch, with a charging rhythm and blaring keyboards leading the way. It seems to be the spawn of XTC and U2, just as giddy as something from the former (think Go2) and almost as anthemic as something from the latter (think Boy). Much later on, near the end, "Unwritten Law" comes along as one of the Sound's best mid-tempo mood pieces -- one of their greatest strengths. It also shows how much a simple shading of synth can affect a song, as it affects it with a melancholic smear that no other instrument could possibly provide. In all honesty, they weren't breaking any new ground here. Their influences were just as apparent as the ones donned by the other bands that inhabited similar post-punk territory. Smart journalists of the time -- meaning the ones who truly listened and were aware of the band's past -- knew well enough that the Sound belonged in the same league as the bands they were compared to and not somewhere in the bushes. Hardly coattail jockeying, the Sound were developing and growing alongside them. If you're thinking this sounds like someone's telling you that you need Jeopardy just as much as you need Kilimanjaro or Unknown Pleasures or Crocodiles, you're right again. [Renascent's 2002 reissue offers a fine remastering job and the four-song Live Instinct EP as a bonus.]~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide

The story of the Monochrome Set begins on the 30 th of June 1976, when the man who was to become Public Ridicule under the name Adam Ant placed an ad in Melody Maker. The ad was headlined with "Beat on a bass with the B-sides". Our man Andy Warren responds, and on July 3 Adam and Andy meet up outside the famous Marquee club in London.

The two form the B-sides, a beat group rehearsing in South Clapham, London, throughout 1976 and 1977 with various personnel including some known names as follow: Lester Square (guitar), Bid (occassional guitar and vocals) and of course Warren on bass. These Hornsey art school punks, known to the world The B-Sides never played any gigs, nor released any records, but had more talent than you could shake a stick at. Actually , the rather recently issued abum Black & White Minstrels includes some tracks from these early days. The B-sides are also supposed to have recorded a punk version of Nancy Sinatra's classic "These boots are made for walking".

Adam, Andy and Lester then goes on to form Adam & the Ants. The Ants (comprising Ant, Warren, Square and Paul Flanagan) make their live debut on April 23 1977 at the Roxy club in Neal Street, London. The bill also includes Siouxsie & the Banshees.

After a while, in early 1978, Lester leaps out (sorry, I just couldn't resist the pun...) of the Ants and rejoins Bid to form the Monochrome Set. Andy Warren stays in the Ants to record their first album.

With Charlie X (bass) and J.D. Haney (drums: ex-Art Attacks) the band play their first gig to enthusiastic students at Westfield College. During these early days, the Monochrome Set went through a bewildering array of bass players: Charlie X was rapidly replaced by Simon Croft - who in turn quit, preferring to keep his day job.

Despite this apparent instability, the band were soon signed by Rough Trade (Autumn 1978), and the fifth single to emerge from the Rough Trade offices has a black/white television set on the cover. By now Jeremy Harrington (bass: ex-Gloria Mundi and Mean Street) handled the bass guitar. Three promising 45s followed - 'He's Frank' in January 1979, the superb 'Eine Symphonie des Grauens' (April) and sig-tune 'Monochrome Set' in September (which received much airplay from Radio One DJ Mike Read). A tour of the USA followed, which also featured the slide projections of film-maker Tony Potts.

At this point, Jeremy Harrington decides to stay in America and form The Resident Aliens. But don't worry, he is replaced our old pal Andy Warren in October 1979, who has fallen out with his fellow Ants. That very month, the Monochrome Set were finally signed by an impressed major, namely Dindisc. And the following April sees the double release of the band's debut LP,Strange Boutique, and its title track as a single. The long-player gained favourable reviews and surprised many by reaching the UK Top 65. The band's prolific output continued unabated with further singles in '405 Lines' (with its self-referential 'television' theme) and the sardonic 'Apocalypso'. .

Following the release of their second album of the year - Love Zombies (October 1980) - some journalists felt that the Monochrome Set were doing their level best to alienate the press, and even believed that the group lacked the ambition necessary to break through. Sadly, Dindisc felt similarly, dropping them after the relative failure of the second album. Possibly due to the label going bankrupt. Anyhow, the Monochrome Set was without a contract.

1981 began in slightly better fashion, with Charisma's Pre label putting out a one-off single - the quirky "Ten Don'ts For Honeymooners". But it was with Mike Alway's vigilant indie label Cherry Red records that the Monochrome Set found themselves back on an even kilter. The label, always fast to spot unusual and brilliant acts, had an impressive rooster including Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt (later of Everything But the Girl), the Marine Girls, Nightingales, Eyeless in Gaza, Attila the Stockbroker and the Dead Kennedys.

Rapid line-up changes follow in the Monochrome camp. In August 1981, J.D. Haney goes to New York to work on the International Discography of the New Wave, to get married and to join the band Triple Threat. Lexington Crane briefly sits in on the drums before ex-Soft Boys Morris Windsor joined for the release of "The Mating Game" in July 1982, followed by "Cast a long shadow" and the memorable first Cherry Red album Eligible Bachelors

Mid-1983 saw the tongue-in-cheek single 'Jet Set Junta', which nodded to the previous year's Falkland islands conflict, becoming a big indie hit and garnering extensive play.

In Oct. 1982 Lester leaves the band to make the movie The Green Man, study and make his solo debut with a single, Deals Surf. Lester also played guitar with London band the Native Hipsters around this time.

Bid & Andy carries on, recruits Carrie Booth on keyboards, Nick Wesolowski on drums and Freddie Fingers Foster, Foz to his friends, to play guitar. And when the aforementioned Mike Alway abandoned Cherry Red to start the WEA subsidiary blanco y negro, he takes the Monochrome Set with him, issuing 'Jacob's Ladder' (1985) as one of the new label's first 45s.

The positive reaction to this altogether much poppier affair gave the band renewed confidence. The obvious disappointment felt when this single narrowly missed the Top 75 was tempered by the release of the equally well-received 'Wallflower' later in the year. However, this too failed to chart, and when the subsequent LP, the pleasing Lost Weekend (1985), also made little headway, the disillusioned Monochrome Set decided to go their separate ways....

But just to prove that the world is a great place, the Monochrome Set reform in December 1989. The band sports Bid, Lester, Andy Warren, Trevor Reidy drumming and Orson Presence on guitar and keyboards. And they're still with us to this very day...

Foz went on to form David Devant & his spirit wife, appearing as if by magic at venues throughout the uk in 1996.

The very latest news I can offer (August 1996) is that the band has taken another sabbathical, and we will just have to make do with the wonderful albums and singles until they decide to act again.

Swiss millionaire conceptual-artist dilletante horsey-set professional poker player and golfer decides he wants to front a synth-pop band, and Yello is the result. Their debut album is a baffling, fantastic, and utterly successful blend of clubby dancefloor tunes and silly minimal synth experiments. Oh, and there's also a three-song-long gloomy ambient/industrial soundscape right smack in the middle of the album, which, strangely enough, is just what the album needs at that point. In 1980, this is what happened when a rich guy decided to make music. Nowadays, Paris Hilton is the millionaire recording albums. Things were far far better back then. Sigh.

If Throbbing Gristle's "DOA: Third and Final Report" is an ice-cold shower and a mouthful of nails, then "Solid Pleasure" is a jacuzzi bathtub and a glass of champagne with a sugar-frosted rim.

Rhea's Obsession, who takes its name from the Greek Goddess Rhea, is a band from Canada. Their music mixes several different genres, making it difficult to place them in any one specific box. A few of these genres are gothic rock, darkwave, and world music, similar to Dead Can Dance.

"A sweeping atmosphere of tranquility and serenity awaits us with Between Earth and Sky. Here, the Canadian duo Rhea's Obsession is delivering an outstanding performance, charming us with their gorgeous ethereal music. With diverse world music references, many ancient Arabian ones, build around a superb orchestration of percussion and guitars all this supported by the blissful, multidimensional vocal's abilities of Sue Hutton; this album is simply beautiful. For sure, Rhea's Obsession plays on some gothic's edges, and this, with brilliance and Dreaming Blade is truly revealing such overtones. Here more grinding, but well balanced, guitars replace the usual acoustic ones along shy electronics making their intrusion along Hutton's remarkable vocals providing an energetic performance. But, Between Earth and Sky's best moments can be found in its serenity with songs like Spill Elixir or the opening Too Deep delivering a heavenly experience. The late, with a soft electronic landscape smoothly embracing acoustic guitars, donates such a pleasant, yet unique, moment."~by Final Man, electroage-music.com

Biography:The gothic beauty behind Rhea's Obsession surrounds Greek mythology and twists with Celtic and Bulgarian musical stylings for a unique electro-industrial depiction. Formed in 1995 with guitarist Jim Field and classically trained vocalist Sue Hutton, the two composed the score to the experimental flick Tabulae Anatomacae Sex, which incorporated their flawless Dead Can Dance-like ambience thought, bringing them critical acclaim and a hand in music for films. Later work consisted of arranging scores to regular Canadian shows on MuchMusic and Bravo, but Rhea's Obsession also yearned for a recording career as well. In 1996, Hutton and Field formed a tour band with Ryan Bloomer (drums), Rakesh Tewari (tablas and percussion), Ed Hanley (tablas and percussion), and Chris Gagnon (keyboards) in support of the band's debut Initiation. Praise at college radio soon followed and the lush tribal hues of Initiation also brought the goth rock/darkwave circuit up from the underground in Canada and equaled more airtime play for Rhea's Obsession. Several compilations showcasing the band's spellbinding film material were released throughout the rest of the decade, as well as a second album Between Earth and Sky.~ MacKenzie Wilson, All Music Guide

The Modern Dance changed the way I heard music when I first taped it off a friend in 1981; 17 years and three or four copies down the road it still sounds fantastic.

Back then it was a bracing shock to the central nervous system, the sound of music flying in a dozen different directions at once and yet cohering into a powerful, singularly evocative expression of possibility and perspective. The Modern Dance reaffirmed that rock and roll could be a vehicle for authentic artistic statements, and that this could be done without rubbing the listener in the rank stench of the performer's narcissistic self-adoration. It also sounded, back in the day, completely alien and yet somehow familiar. On the one hand you had David Thomas's inchoate yelps and Allen Ravenstine's hissing, sparking, whistling EML synthesizer. On the other was a driving, full-steam-ahead rhythm section and a guitarist who obviously knew how to negotiate the distance between the Missippi Delta, Chuck Berry, and outer space, and was glad to weave his map into every ascerbic lick that he played.

This is the soundtrack of intelligent men lost in the wretched cultural wasteland of the 70s, aware that their city was rotting around them and in love with its corroded rusting beauty.

This is one of the best records ever made.~Bill Meyer , inkblotmagazine

Gloomy yet beat-driven minimal synth-pop that sounds like it's straight from the early 80s. A really strong set of songs. I believe this was a vinyl-only release; this is my own rip from a mint copy. Sounds fantastic and highly recommended.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

1. Close to Nature2. Beware the Fly3. Saturdays in Silesia4. Just a Sound in the Night5. Meilleur des Mondes6. Ring the Bells7. City of Night8. Dancing on the (Berlin) Wall9. Power Zone10. I Want to See the Light11. Coboloid Race

One of Canada's first Synthpop groups, Rational Youth was formed in Montreal in the summer of 1981 by Tracy Howe and Bill Vorn. Tracy had been a member of various top local New Wave bands such as the Normals,Heaven Seventeen and Men Without Hats; and Bill had been a member of the all-synth band "U". Both Tracy and Bill idolised Kraftwerk and when the German synth gods released "Computer World", the two Montrealers were inspired to start their own all-electronic group, which they named Rational Youth. Within months of their formation, they released their first single, 'Coboloid Race c/w I Want To See The Light', on the independent YUL label.

In the spring of 1982, they released the album 'Cold War Night Life', which included the hits 'Saturdays In Silesia', 'City Of Night', and the European cult fave 'Dancing On The Berlin Wall'. Bill and Tracy were joined by a third synthesist, Kevin Komoda, toward the end of the production of 'CWNL'. 'Cold War Night Life' was Canada's first-ever full-length synthpop release and the biggest- selling Canadian independent album of the 1980's. The album was also released throughout Europe to considerable success (on both sides of the Iron Curtain). Bill Vorn left Rational Youth at the end of 1982 to resume communications studies at the University of Quebec, and to conduct research and development within the discipline of interactive robotics.

Founded in 1991, Artaud proclaimed that G.O.D. would produce seven albums in seven years with seven songs each -- seven is a very powerful number and, in some arcane traditions, seven thrice is the number of perfection. The corpus of The Garden of Delight cannot be viewed as individual albums or songs -- they are all integral aspects of the whole plan that Artaud has been consistently explicating since the first years of this decade. In the 1994 song "Necromanteion (S.O.C.R.)," Artaud utters "The Last of the Lost Ones/Tell them I want to see them." On their most recent album "Scheoul," he declares "We are the Last of the Lost Ones." Six years and six albums later, the circle approaches completion.

Musically, there can be little doubt that Artaud is influenced by Carl McCoy in both subject matter and vocal style (actually, he seems to be the one man on the face of the earth with a voice that is actually deeper ..than Carl's), and by and large, G.O.D. retain the fundamental structure of "a man and his drum machine." However, Artaud sneers at the notion that the Garden of Delight is a "goth" band. Considering goth, one immediately thinks of bands that are influenced by the Sisters of Mercy. Granted, there is a certain degree of such within the Garden of Delight's work (particularly Symbol and Vision). However, this does not take into account the incredible diversity of their music. Indeed, while all of their albums have had thematic consistency, their music has changed greatly through the years. The Garden of Delight never seem content with a particular "sound." They will adopt one, master it, synthesize it with something else, and then move on. To firmly label the Garden of Delight would imply musical stagnation, which is quite far from the truth.

Mad Season was a grunge supergroup formed in late 1994 by members of three popular Seattle based bands: Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and Screaming Trees.Mad Season only released one album, Above.

"Above" was released March 14, 1995

History :Mad Season was formed in 1994 by the trio of Mike McCready (guitar), Barrett Martin (drums) and John Baker Saunders (bass). All three had long been a part of the Seattle music community with McCready playing in such bands as Pearl Jam and Temple of the Dog, Martin with Skin Yard and the Screaming Trees and Saunders with The Walkabouts as well as blues talents such as Little Pat Rushing, Hubert Sumlin, Sammy Fender, and the Lamont Cranston Band.

Immediately the trio set up rehearsal time together and wrote two songs, "Wake Up" and "River of Deceit", both of which would later appear on their album Above. McCready then brought in friend and Alice in Chains frontman Layne Staley to round out the lineup.

Despite not having a single song completely prepared (only beginnings of songs, according to Martin) and not even having a name for the band, McCready scheduled an unannounced show at the Crocodile Cafe in October 1994, which turned out to be a big success. In fact, the song "Artificial Red", which was also to appear on the album, actually came together during the show itself.

Two more gigs were scheduled at the same venue, with the band calling themselves the Gacy Bunch, after both the notorious serial killer John Wayne Gacy of Chicago and a sitcom from the 1970s called The Brady Bunch.

On January 8 of 1995, the band made an appearance on Pearl Jam's Self-Pollution Radio worldwide broadcast, performing "Lifeless Dead" and "I Don't Know Anything".

After gaining more popularity, the band recorded their only album and changed their name to Mad Season, which is an English term for the time of the year when psilocybin mushrooms are in full bloom.

The album, Above, which was recorded in Seattle at Bad Animals Studio (co-owned by Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart) and co-produced by the band and Pearl Jam sound engineer Brett Eliason, featured 10 songs. It also included guest vocals by Screaming Trees frontman and solo artist Mark Lanegan. The album was released on March 15, 1995 on Columbia Records to critical and commercial success. Over the course of 1995, Above scaled the Billboard 200 eventually peaking at #24, furthermore spawning two singles: "River of Deceit" (#2 Mainstream Rock Tracks, #9 Modern Rock Tracks) and "I Don't Know Anything" (#20 Mainstream Rock Tracks). Above was certified gold on June 14 of that year.

The band continued to play shows during the Spring of '95 before going on hiatus to return to work with their main bands. During this time the band released the 'Live At The Moore Theatre' video which was a live performance recorded at Seattle's Moore Theatre on April 29, 1995. Also during this time the band contributed a cover of John Lennon's "I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier" to the John Lennon tribute compilation Working Class Hero.

In 1996 a live version of "River Of Deceit" surfaced on the Bite Back: Live At Crocodile Cafe compilation although by this time Mad Season had long been dormant from live work.

In 1997 attempts were made by McCready, Saunders and Martin to revive Mad Season although by this point Staley's health had worsened due to severe drug addiction. As a result he declined to participate in the project any further thus leaving Mad Season without a singer.

With Staley now out of the picture, the band recruited vocalist Mark Lanegan (of the Screaming Trees) who had previously guested on the Above album (as well as at live shows) as their new permanent singer. With the switch in frontman the group also switched names adopting the 'Disinformation' moniker in late 1997.

Work reportedly began in 1998 on what would have been Disinformation's debut album although between everyone's busy schedules studio time was hard to come by. Over the course of the year the quartet gradually grew apart making a 'Disinformation' album all the more unlikely. Another critical blow was dealt to the project in January 1999 with the death of bassist John Baker Saunders (from an overdose of heroin). The group (esp. Saunders' long-time friend Mike McCready) were deeply saddened to hear news of his death.

Although no official announcement was ever given, it is widely accepted that Mad Season/Disinformation broke up following Saunders' death.

Despite their background (punk), geography (Seattle), and label affiliation (Sub Pop), the Walkabouts were anything but a grunge band; dark, haunting, and elegiac, their work instead sprung forth from the storytelling traditions of American roots music and the kinetic excitement of rock & roll. The Walkabouts were formed in 1984 by Chris Eckman and his brothers Curt and Grant, all of whom had previously played together in a number of punk-pop outfits, along with singer Carla Torgerson, a veteran of folk and street singing. The group's lineup proved fluid, although Chris Eckman and Torgerson remained the Walkabouts' driving forces; a later roster including bassist Michael Wells, multi-instrumentalist Glenn Slater, and drummer Terri Moeller did hang together for a number of years.After issuing a self-titled cassette in 1984, the Walkabouts released the EP 22 Disasters a year later. A full-length LP, Weights and Rivers, was planned for 1987, but the record was never released — a harbinger of music industry problems to come. Instead, the group offered See Beautiful Rattlesnake Garden in 1988, which not only marked the continued maturity of Eckman and Torgerson's songwriting but also earned the Walkabouts a contract with the fledgling Sub Pop label. The deal resulted in upgraded production values, as evidenced by 1989's Cataract and its follow-up, the next year's six-song EP Rag & Bone, which featured the keyboard work of the newly added Slater.Released in 1991, Scavenger proved to be the last Walkabouts record issued in their native land for some time; however, while the deal with Sub Pop's American division went sour, the label's European division, Glitterhouse, hung on to the Walkabouts, where the band's following had been steadily growing. Between 1993 and 1995, the group issued a staggering seven full-length records in Europe — three by the full band, a limited-edition live collection, and three more released by the duo of Chris & Carla. Finally, in 1995 the three aforementioned Walkabouts albums — the double-LP set New West Motel, the all-covers Satisfied Mind, and the more rock-oriented Setting the Woods on Fire — all appeared domestically. A year later, the band issued two more albums, the all-new Devil's Road (recorded with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra) and Death Valley Days: Lost Songs and Rarities, 1985-1995, a collection of odds and ends. In November 1996, Wells left the Walkabouts to devote himself to his side project, Pluto Boy; he was replaced by bassist Baker Saunders. Trail of Stars followed in 2000.

Metro Music was Martha and the Muffins' first album, released in 1979, and contained the international hit single "Echo Beach"; it was a #3 hit in Canada, #1 in Portugal, #5 in Australia and reached No. 10 in the UK charts in March 1980. "Saigon" was released as a follow-up single in the UK a few months later but failed to chart. In Canada, the follow-up single was "Paint By Number Heart" -- it climbed to #69.

As Dindisc 1 (DID I) Metro Music was notable for being the first album ever released on the then-new Dindisc label, followed soon after by the debut album from Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, numbered appropriately enough, as Dindisc 2 (DID 2).

The cover art gives us a birds eye view of the Toronto Harbour and the surrounding area, the band's hometown.

Tuesday, March 6, 2007

Psyclone Rangers are a wild bunch from Pennsylvania led by vocalist Jonathan Valania and guitarist Scott Dantzer. Their postures, halfway between freaks a` la Butthole Surfers and cowpunks a` la Gun Club, are wed to twisted, psychotic punk-rock. The band offers lyrics centered more upon feeling than culture. Again, the music is post-punk garage band raucousness as played from the garage at Graceland, but a few more songs branch out into more experimental angles. And while the music isn't as fueled as the pure pop and pop culture on Feel Nice, the effort is still rock & roll at its best and most well-crafted.

Los Angeles quartet Red Temple Spirits skillfully mix post-punk influences - mid-period Cure, Savage Republic, early (Death) Cult - with a loving dose of lysergic psychedelia (Syd Barrett and Roky Erickson are particular touchstones). Bassist Dino Paredes and guitarist Dallas Taylor coax entrancing drones and pulses from thier instruments with judicious uses of echoe and other effects, while shamanistic frontman William Faircloth (a colorful immigrant from Britain's original '60s psychedelic movement) delves into mysticism (Native American on the first album, Tibetan on the second) with a grace and passion rarely seen before.

Dancing to Restore an Eclipsed Moon is an astonishing debut. The luxurios packaging (doubleLP/single CD) mirrors the care put into the music, which tastefully incorporates flutes, bells, natural sounds (water, birds) to create a heady atmosphere of ritualistic ecstasy. Short catchy compositions like 'Dark Spirits' and 'Dreamings Ending' alternate with several long and complex pieces.

The follow-up album is far more direct, both in the melodic music and the lyrics, which turn towards external/environmental stimuli. As crystallized by the gorgeous 'Dive In Deep' and an incandescent cover of Pink Floyd's 'Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun,' the theme of hope for the magic and beauty of life in the face of despair remains. Prior to the Spirits, Faircloth lent his vocal ululations to the similarly psychedelic Ministry of Love, a trio that included guitar wiz Mark Nine. Although lacking the Red Temple Spirits' brilliant chemistry, there are some great moments on the five-track EP, including 'Living in the Moment' (a showcase for Nine's e-bow mastery) and Faircloth's touching ballad, 'You're Not On Your Own'

*(The Above Text is taken from the Trouser Press guide to records, written by Greg Fasolino)

Monday, February 19, 2007

Some Aussie punk for you guys...some of their tracks have a surf feel and they do a cover of the 13th Floor Elevators' song 'You're Gonna Miss Me'!

After the release of their debut LP, Radios Appear (the title comes from a lyric in the Blue Öyster Cult song "Dominance and Submission"), in Australia a year later, Radio Birdman seemed poised to break Aussie punk worldwide. And although the American label Sire (then the home of the Ramones) was quick to sign them and distribute Radios Appear internationally in 1978, there was a gap of three years before they released a second album, Living Eyes. During that time, dozens of other Aussie punk bands stole their thunder, and Radio Birdman split up almost immediately after Living Eyes was released. Sire never released the record outside of Australia, and Radio Birdman, who should have been the biggest band in Aussie punk, was now a highly regarded punk forefather.

Sack Full of Silver is, in many ways, one of Thin White Rope's most fully realized sets, blending the group's early alt-psychedelic influences and a growing taste for dusty Americana flavors. Having completed a 16-date tour of the Soviet Union, the group collected covers of Marty Robbins, Lee Hazlewood, and others for the Red Sun EP, followed shortly by this batch of originals penned during the trip overseas. Like all Thin White Rope releases, Sack Full of Silver is defined by the voice of Guy Kyser: the aural equivalent of the flat, parched, endless landscape his characters seem to inhabit. Sobering realizations, like dead ends, await them around every corner. In an environment where failure, desperation, and hopelessness are common currency, adding up one's losses and moving on feels like a great victory. It's clearly no easy task. "The Ghost" catches its subject in the moment before that turning point, looking ahead as a life of loss begins to flood in.

Emerging out of the final chords of "Americana" and "Desert Rock" it rises from the sound of wind-swept sand to a triumphant anthem in the mold of an old folk song. Revealing that they are working within a wider frame of reference, the group adapt Can's "Yoo Doo Right," distilling the original's 20 minutes into a compact, bursting rock number. Though the gray area in between these two styles produces less memorable results, Thin White Rope's brand of American roots has aged more gracefully than the work of some of their contemporaries. Sack Full of Silver remains as fine an introduction to Kyser's vision as any. ~ Nathan Bush, All Music GuideDownloadThin White Rope - 1985 - Exploring The Axis1. Down In The Desert2. Disney Girl3. Soundtrack4. Lithium5. Dead Grammas On A Train6. Three Song, The7. Eleven8. Atomic Imagery9. Real West, The10. Exploring The Axis11. Macy's Window12. Rocket USA - (live)13. Roger's TongueReview by Nathan BushHailing from the northern California town of Davis, Thin White Rope was initially pegged as a proponent of the paisley underground movement. Such labeling, however, tells half the story at best. The list of bands the group went on to cover over the course of their ten-year career is actually more revealing. Songs by Suicide, the Stooges, Lee Hazlewood, Marty Robbins, Bob Dylan, Can, and a James Bond theme have all been rendered by the band in the studio and on-stage. That list goes a long way in explaining the mixture of raw, angular riffs, southern twang, and icy psychedelia that characterizes Exploring the Axis, the group's 1985 debut. What it does not convey, perhaps, is the relative bleakness of Thin White Rope's music. Frontman Guy Kyser, guitarist Roger Kunkel, bassist Stephen Tesluk, and drummer Jozef Becker outline a series of barren landscapes, their instruments kicking up clouds of dust from the parched earth like a rollicking, rickety ghost-train headed south. At times Jeff Eyrich's productions approach the wintry heir of Martin Hannett's work with Joy Division. This climate is ideal for Kyser, who delivers tales of isolation, allusion, and death; his voice a perpetually unsteady quake.Download

The Punks!!!! Ahhh, another long forgotten badass 1970's RnR band, this time from Detroit, Michigan. Heavily influenced by artists such as Iggy & The Stooges, MC5, & Blue Cheer. This is the 2005 reissue version put out by Italian label Rave-Up Records, (currently sold out and out of print) possibly the finest label still releasing records by relatively obscure and classic RnR/Garage/Punk/Glam bands.

Singer Frantic of The Punks

This is what Matt Gimmick had to say in October 2001 about The Punks, featured on the Motor City Music website (they also issued a Punks CD a few years ago, titled The Most Powerful Music On Earth, which more or less contains the same songs on this release, plus a few live versions):

"This Volume I collection of songs was recorded between 1975 and 1977. These tracks aren't from some slick dressed commercial over-rehearsed band of rock star wanna-be's. They were culled from a live performance, rehearsals and low buck studio recordings. It's High Energy - and best described by the word "raunch." If it were to be categorized, this CD should be filed under the Listen Loud section.

There were bands The Punks enjoyed listening to and seeing; groups such as The Underdogs, Unrelated Segments, Velvet Underground, MC5, The Stooges, SRC, early Alice Cooper, and Blue Cheer - the list goes on and on. This CD represents their answer and contribution to the demise of the late great 60's era, especially in and around the Metro Detroit area. After 1970 or so, the Detroit scene died, so the punks geared up and decided to make their own noise.

The studio tracks were preparation recordings for an anticipated recording contract with a major label that didn't materialize. "My Time's Comin', "Drop Dead" (a song about feeling good) and "Sinister Bly" were recorded at The Punks' Saline headquarters in Waterford, Michigan. "Chains of Madness," a song about being possessed, and "Drug Related Incident" were recorded at League G studios, utilizing old Motown Records recording equipment. Includes as well "Darker Side," "Rocks Funeral," and "No Mercy (For The Damned)" - a title and song for a follow-up to the Dirty Dozen movie, and "Quick One," about... well, you know! The two live cuts were from the infamous IAC Club in Pontiac, Michigan. These shows were crazy. The audiences were usually drunk, drugged up and rowdy as hell. The late great Lester Bangs of CREEM Magazine would show up with friends to rejuvenate his senses and fill his need for some loud train-wreck type rock'n'roll. "On The Bum," a tune about being a poor rock musician during the disco period, and "Always Had This Problem," - not really an upbeat outlook on life - are two cuts from a show in 1976. Plans are to release more live material on a second volume in the near future.

To witness The Punks doing it live was like a preparation for a major hangover the next morning. There was no enthusiastic jumping around by guitarists Steve Rockey, Alan Webber or bassist Rod McMahon. Lead singer "Frantic", a/k/a William Kuchon, took care of the craziness. Frantic had more energy than a kid on speed, and enjoyed working it out while drummer Craigstone J. Webshire III was content to shred drumsticks the size of logs in the pursuit of annihilating his drum kit. It was loud and aggressive music, fast and rockin', at times slow and heavy with nontraditional guitar interactions of feedback/wah wah/distortion mixed with driving bass runs and an atomic bomb relentless backbeat. Add Frantic's stage presence - a smiling defiant singer with a dislike of the wimpy mainstream acts of the day coupled with a stance on stage that projected a "Hey! Let's get crazy, let's go over the top because there ain't no rules" attitude. Frantic believed he was just a voice cryin' in the wilderness, and he stood proud with an obnoxious-repetitious-ear splitting band of brothers behind him that loved to crank it up. It was destruction volume and energy - not so clean, nice or politically correct in any way, shape, form or fashion. At the time there was no media-coined "punk rock." There were no safety-pinned spike-haired, hey-look-at-me-I'm-tougher-than-you fashion hounds. There was just this band called The Punks, who had no delusional ideas of who they were or what they were trying to accomplish. So sit back, crank it up, and enjoy."

Wednesday, February 7, 2007

Love to Rule/Stop & Think /To the Bone /The Seeker/What You Need/Tomorrow Will Be Fine /Happy Man /Alone With You /Guts of Iron/Physical Jerk /My Only Friend /Tell Me What You Say/You Need A Friend/No Love Around/This Is Real /Pain/Show Me Some Discipline/Love in A Box/Comes As No Surprise /Bottom Of My Heart /You Need A Friend

CD 2: Live 1981 - 1982

Collectively recorded at the Governors Pleasure, The Rocks, Sydney, January 1981; Bombay Rock, Melbourne, February 1981; Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne, January 1982 and the Family Inn, Rydalmere, Sydney, February 1982.

Why Do I Cry/Guts Of Iron /Love to Rule /Strategy Idol /Tomorrow Will Be Fine /My Only Friend /Alone With You/What You Need /I'm Shakin'/Tunnel Of Love/I Don't Want You /Happy Man /I Can't Talk to You /The Seeker /I Want to Be Alone /Let You Go /Thrill /I'm No Satisfied /Trouble in My Brain /You Need A Friend /Happy Birthday

Sydney band The Sunnyboys remain one of the most highly regarded and best-loved bands of the Australian 'post-punk' era. Fronted by the enigmatic and youthful singer/songwriter cum guitarist Jeremy Oxley, the band breathed some freshness and vitality into the Sydney music scene in the early 80s. Essentially The Sunnyboys wore their influences on their sleeve; The Remains, The Flamin' Groovies, The Kinks and The Beatles with a dash of Detroit muscle thrown in for good measure. They produced melodic power pop classics.The Sunnyboys announced their break-up in June 1984.

The Brainbombs are Swedish, but anyone expecting cute, natty garage rockers like the Hives or psychedelic vikings like the Soundtrack of Our Lives should immediately recalibrate their heads. Imagine early Throbbing Gristle's sociopathic obsessions with rape and murder (minus the performance-art pretensions) mixed with the willful amateurism of Half Japanese, and that's still only the half of it. The creepy thing about the Brainbombs is that unlike, say, G.G. Allin, who was clearly simply unhinged, this lot explores its seedy obsessions with a detached, almost offhand quality that makes the snuff-film fantasies of songs like "No End" that much ickier. Musically, these 12 songs are an intriguing blend of proto-punk stomp and arty explorations (think of pre-Pere Ubu art-punk weirdos like the Electric Eels), but the lyrics will be a dealbreaker for many.